Current-motor.



' F. J. PAYNE.

CURRENT MOTOR: nrucum'u FILED 1 1113.11. 1907.

PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908.

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F. J. PAYNE. CURRENT MOTOR.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS J. PAYNE, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

CURRENT-MOTOR.

Application filed February 11, 1907.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3, 1908.

Serial No. 356,828.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANors J. PAYNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Current-Motors;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention has reference to current motors, and it aims to provide a simple, and at the same time highly eflicient mechanism of that class for utilizing the current of a body of running water for the generation of power.

Heretofore, where current motors have been made use of in connection with sluice ways, it has been possible to utilize only the momentum of the water, so that the use of a train of gears between the motor shaft and the shaft to be driven therefrom is practically essential to obtain the requisite speed of the latter. By the present invention, however, it is proposed to augment the momentum of the water by closing the sluice to such an extent as to create an increased pressure or head directed against the chain paddles as they enter the sluice, so as to carry the same therethrough at an increased rate of speed.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a sluice way in which the depth ofthe water traveling therethrough is at all times equal to the height of the paddles, thus preventing a waste of the current ower.

A still further object of the invention consists in the provision of means disposed against the opposite sides of the sluice for supporting the lower stretch of the paddle chains.

With the above and other ends in view, the nvention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, all as hereinafter fully described, specifically claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by corresponding reference numerals in the several views.

Of the said drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved current motor. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is an end View. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the sluice way showing the disposition of one of the tracks thereon. Fig. 5 is a transverse section therethrough. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the plates for supporting the paddles.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numerals 10 and 11 designate a pair of walls formed of masonry or wood, as desired, and disposed in spaced relation to each other in the bed of the stream. These walls are connected by a section 12 of similar material, so arranged as to form the top or roof of a sluice way 13, which latter is further provided with an upper facing 14, side facings 15, and a bottom 16, preferably of cement. The walls 10 and 11 are flared out- Wardly at opposite ends so as to form a converging mouth-piece or intake, and the wall 12 is provided at opposite ends with longitudinal slots 17, into which a pair of sprocket wheels 18 and 19 extend, said wheels being mounted upon shafts 20 and 21 journaled in bearings disposed upon the upper face of the uprights 22 which form an extension of the walls 10 and 11. The sprocket wheels above referred to are connected by a pair of endless chains or conveyers 22, the corresponding links of which are connected by a series of transversely disposed shafts 23, each of which carries a paddle blade 24, secured thereto by straps 25 disposed at opposite ends of each shaft and including a depending section 25, which extends across the face of the corresponding paddle and is fastened thereto by bolts 26. The paddles are further secured at each end to the inwardly-directed rear arm of the L-shaped end plate 27, whose forwardly-projecting arm is provided with an outwardly extending sleeve 28, formed integrally therewithin .the reduced ends 29 of the shafts fitting in said sleeves and projecting therebeyond. The sleeves are, in turn, secured to the shaft ends by spring catches 30 which are passed through registering openings formed in the sleeve and shaft ends.

The opposite ends of each shaft are further provided With Wheels 31, which are loosely mounted on the sleeves 28 and run on tracks 32 disposed within the sluice way adjacent the side walls 15 thereof, so that during the passage of the chains and paddles therethrough the latter will be prevented from sagging and contacting against the bottom wall of the sluice way. I

As shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the distance between the chains 22 is equal to approximately half the distance between the side walls of the sluice way, while the paddles themselves are approximately equal in size to the cross sectional area of the sluice way, so that during their passage therethrough the full force of the current is directed thereagainst, thus preventing any loss of power. It will be likewise apparent from the same figures that owing to the disposition of the sluice way'beneath the connecting wall 12, a slight head of water will be constantly maintained at the inta e to the sluice way, resulting in an increased momentum or propelling force of the current, which is augmented by the flared formation of the inta e.

The shaft of the front wheel 18, as shown in Fig. 3, extends at opposite ends beyond its uprights 22, and is provided at one end with a beveled pinion 33, in mesh with a similar pinion 34 mounted on a shaft 35 journaled in bearings disposed upon the cross beams 36, which connect the uprights 22 with the uprights 36, formed at the outer edge of the wall 10. The shaft 35 of the pinion 34 carries a belt pulley 37, through which power is transmitted by a belt (not shown) to the shaft to be driven The opposite end of shaft 20 may, if desired, be li'ewise provided with a pulley 38. The bearings in which the shaft 21 is journaled are preferably movable, and. the wheel 19 carried thereby may thus be moved towards or from the wheel 18 to loosen or tighten chains 22, this adjustment being effected through the threaded. shaft or rod 39 connected therewith and provided with an actuating means of any desired type.

As shown in Fig. 1, the paddle blades are at all times disposed at right angles to their corresponding linl 's, and to this end their upper ends are connected by braces 40 of the succeeding shaft.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the ordinary momentum or force of the current will be augmented both by the formation of the flared intake and by the disposition of the sluice way beneath the connecting wall 12, the latter construction resulting in the maintenance of a slight head of water at all times at the intake, which, as is obvious, will increase the current force which thus drives the wheels at a greater rate of speed. It will be likewise apparentthat the sluice way and the chains may have any desired length. It is to be further noted that by the formation of a closed sluice way no water will run over the tops of the blades or paddles, as is the case where an open sluice way is used, so that there will be no appreciable loss of power.

T Vhat is claimed, is

The combination, in a current motor, of a closed sluice way; a pair of wheels disposed at opposite ends thereof; endless chains adapted to travel over said wheels and through the sluice way; transversely-disposed shafts connecting said chains; L shaped plates secured to the opposite end of each shaft, each of said plates having an outwardly-projecting sleeve formed upon its forward arm through which the corresponding shaft end extends; a wheel loosely mounted upon the sleeve of each plate; and tracl's disposed within the sluice "way, said wheels being adapted to travel upon the tracls to support the paddles duringtheir passage through the sluice way.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS J. PAYNE.

Witnesses:

W ILLIAM VVALTER, L. H. OSTERHOUS. 

